Reaction of 5-amino-1-phenylpyrazole-4-carbonitriles with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate. Synthesis and structural determination of trimethyl 4,8-dioxo-1-phenyl-4,5,5a,8-tetrahydro-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-e]indolizine-5,5a,6-tricarboxylate derivatives

The reaction of 5-amino-1-phenylpyrazole-4-carbonitriles 1a-c with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in the presence of potassium carbonate in dimethyl sulfoxide gave trimethyl 4,5,5a,8-tetrahydro-1-phenyl-4,8-dioxo-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-e]indolizine-5,5a,6-tricarboxylate derivatives 3a-c from the basic solution. The products were formed by a double Michael reaction of 1 with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate followed by cyclization to the cyano group. The structure of product 3a was established by X-ray crystallography.